The sisters created T-shirts with the images of deceased rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.

Problem?

They superimposed their own images and logo over the rappers' images and offered the shirts for sale on their website.

It is not clear why they thought they could do this, since they did not seek permission from the artists' estates to use the images.

Notorious B.I.G.'s mother was deeply offended. His estate's attorney sent the sisters a cease and desist letter with a deadline to stop selling the shirts or face a lawsuit. The Jenners quickly complied and took the shirts out of their store.

The lesson for the sisters here and for anyone else, is that just because a person has passed away, you cannot use his or her likeness in your own commercial enterprises without permission. This is because the estate of the deceased holds the rights to that likeness.

For more information on estate administration please visit my website.

07/28/2017

Funeral services have traditionally been elaborate, expensive affairs, but changes are underway.

The extreme expense of traditional funeral services in Japan, combined with a shortage of crematoriums, has many Japanese families turning to corpse hotels, according to The New York Times in "Crematory Is Booked? Japan Offers Corpse Hotels."

In the traditional ceremonies, the body of the deceased is taken home and everyone in the neighborhood is invited to view it. The next day, the body is cremated and the ashes are taken home for another 49 days, after which they are buried in a local cemetery.

But now an option has come with corpse hotels that are just like any other hotel where people can stay overnight in a traditional hotel room that has the usual amenities.

The difference?

Across the hall from the living guests are rooms that house the bodies of their deceased family members, while they await an open crematory. Japanese people are less likely to know their neighbors than they once did. Consequently, they do not see the need to hold an elaborate funeral for the entire neighborhood.

There is also a cost saving. Corpse hotels can cost a tenth of what holding a traditional funeral would.

While corpse hotels have not been reported in the U.S., it is not unusual for the elderly to decide on being buried in unusual, non-traditional methods.

Large debts can leave executors scrambling to figure out which estate assets to sell to pay off the debts. Heirs who thought they might receive a particular asset or a specific amount of money, might be disappointed to have the asset sold or to have their inheritance reduced to pay off the debts.

One way to avoid these potential problems is to specify in a will exactly how your debts should be paid and to do so, before listing how your assets should be distributed to heirs.

It is easier for heirs to accept that they will not inherit something because of debt, if a will never states that they should have it in the first place.

Specifying how to handle your debts also makes handling them much easier for an executor.

An estate planning attorney can advise you on creating an estate plan that meets your unique circumstances including paying off debts.

07/25/2017

Beneficiaries of a trust do not necessarily have to know about the trust details or its existence.

A potential way to avoid the problem of unintended consequences of a trust is by using a silent trust, according to Financial Advisor in "I Have a Trust?"

As the name implies, a silent trust keeps beneficiaries in the dark about the existence or some of the details of the trust, until a later specified time. This could be upon reaching a certain age or graduating from college.

It is not always a good idea to tell a young person that they can expect to receive large trust distributions in the future, because it can reduce their motivation for successful accomplishments.

However, beneficiaries cannot be negatively affected by a trust if they do not know about it.

However, there is a major drawback.

Beneficiaries who do not know about a trust, cannot monitor the trustee to make sure the trustee is not disregarding his or her fiduciary duty.

The rules concerning silent trusts vary greatly from state to state. Some states do not allow them.

A wills and trusts attorney can advise you on the creation of a trust that will fit your unique circumstances.

A former solicitor in Australia went undercover and posed as a customer at funeral homes. He got pricing information from over 600 of them. He posted the information on a website so other Australians could easily comparison shop and make sure they were not being quoted a price from a funeral home that was more expensive than another customer was quoted from the same business.

He is now being threatened with legal action.

In the U.S., funeral homes are legally required to give customers fair and accurate pricing information, when requested. However, it has proven to be very difficult to enforce those laws.

An estate planning attorney can help you, if you run into a problem finding information.

Most people with trusts designate a family member to be the trustee. However, if that family member does not get along with other members of the family who are the beneficiaries of the trust, then the same family dynamics that can lead to fights over a will can lead to litigation over the trust.

Trustees have a legal duty to act as fiduciaries and to manage the trust in the best interests of all beneficiaries.

What many families end up seeing is that a beneficiary who does not get along with the trustee, for whatever reason or no reason at all, will look for a way to sue the trustee for breach of his or her duty.

There are ways to make these sorts of lawsuits less likely.

Whether it is a trust or a will, an estate planning attorney can advise you on creating an estate plan that will meet your unique circumstances.

In this case, the decedent's adult daughter had lived with him. Although she had a car of her own, she often used her father's car with his permission. She was driving her deceased father's car, when she got in an accident and struck another vehicle.

Subsequently, the decedent's stepson was appointed to be the personal representative of the estate.

Under Florida law, if the daughter was driving the vehicle with the permission of the owner, then the owner could be held liable for any damages, which in this case would be the estate.

Occupants of the other vehicle in the accident sued the estate. However, the personal representative of the estate declined to retroactively authorize the daughter's use of the vehicle. Therefore, the estate would not be liable for any damages.

The case turned on whether the personal representative was required to exercise that retroactive authority. The court ultimately ruled that he was not required to do something that is harmful to the estate.

For more information on estate administration please visit my website.

Frank Kerrigan received a phone call from the Orange County coroner's office to inform him that his son had passed away. Kerrigan asked the coroner if he could see his son's body and personally identify him, but he was told that was unnecessary since the coroner had confirmed the deceased's identity using fingerprints.

Kerrigan arranged a funeral for his son and spent $20,000.

Other family members flew in from out of state to attend the funeral. However, 11 days later, Kerrigan received a phone call from a family friend who informed him that not only was his son not dead, he was standing right there.

Kerrigan is suing the coroner's office for damages that he suffered due to the false identification.

Cases of authorities mistakenly identifying a deceased person do not happen all that often. However, they do happen. Because they do, it is important that someone who knew the deceased person view the body and confirm the identity.

Families should insist on it.

For more information on estate administration please visit my website.

Even if you do not have very much now, you really only need enough to pay life insurance premiums to leave a legacy.

Life insurance policies are very flexible. In fact, you can make almost anyone or anything a beneficiary.

You can make a favorite niece a beneficiary. You can make your alma mater a beneficiary to have a scholarship created in your name. A charity or church can be the beneficiary. You can even leave the money to the town you live in, to have a park named after you.

If you want to leave a legacy and are not wealthy, then consider life insurance. However, do not neglect your estate plan either.

An estate planning attorney can guide you in creating an estate plan that fits your unique circumstances.